Tony Massarotti, co-host of the highly rated “Felger and Massarotti” show on 98.5 The Sports Hub since the station’s inception in 2009, announced during Monday’s show that his recent absences have been due to a unexpected health
He also revealed that NESN did not ask him back as an analyst on their Red Sox broadcasts for the upcoming season. Massarotti was part of a rotating group of broadcast analysts last year.
Massarotti, 55, choked up a bit as he explained his circumstances at the end of the show’s first hour on Monday, but did not specify what illness or ailment he was dealing with.
“I had some health things come up over the holidays that I didn’t expect,” said Massarotti, who revealed he got sick during a show right before the holidays. “They required my immediate attention, we directed them and I feel good. But I will also have to go back to work here following the advice of the people who have taken care of me.
“So I’m going to be in and out a little bit over the next few weeks. It’s not going to be full weeks for me. But I’m going to rebuild for a full week. It shouldn’t be too long. Again, I’m feeling pretty good and I appreciate that people come closer.”
Massarotti had been mostly absent from the show since mid-December. He had been planning to take the vacation before his health problem arose. He said he thought about coming back last week, but decided to take a little more time.
“I’m back, I’m feeling good and I’m happy to be back,” he said.
As for NESN, he said it was the network’s decision not to bring him back for a second season on the Red Sox broadcasts.
“We both went into it knowing it was kind of a test,” Massarotti said. “I appreciate them giving me the opportunity. I also appreciate the Red Sox for doing it. So it was worth a shot. They want to go in a different direction, that’s their call. I would have liked to go ahead , but it’s okay. No harm, no foul.”
Massarotti made a name for himself in local sports media at the Boston Herald, where he started as an intern in 1989. He covered the Red Sox for the Herald as a beat writer and columnist from 1994 until 2008, when he left to join -se at the Globe and Boston. .how.
In August 2009, Massarotti and Michael Felger, a former Herald colleague, joined The Sports Hub in the afternoon, which launched as an FM station as a challenger to sports radio powerhouse perennial WEEI, which was still on AM radio at the time. point. The Sports Hub immediately emerged as a challenger to WEEI’s ratings dominance.
Felger and Massarotti have dominated the afternoon for over a decade. His show has finished first in the male 25-54 demographic in the Nielsen Audio ratings in every three-month ratings period since spring 2012, when it finished third.
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